We all who grew up in the 1980s and the 1990s would recall the ad and the tune, it ran for a good decade-and-a-half. I had learnt a new word, ‘khich khich‘. And my young mind questioned the term ‘cough drops’. My argument was that drops were supposed to be liquid and this was a solid logenze.

This ad made Jayant Kripalani a household face. The little girl in the ad was Isshita Arun (or is it Ishita? The wonders of numerology) – singer Ila Arun’s daughter.

And if you, like me, are wondering (I’m not very clued in) where is she now?

She has grown up (obviously) and is an actress and a television host (Some readers might easily recognise).

Jayant was paid only Rs 500 (don’t know if Rs 500 could be classified as ‘only’ back in 1982) for the ad. But this led to his entry into the world of television (though he was already into advertising and documentary filmmaking) and he was later seen in Limca ads, TV serials Mr Ya Mrs (I don’t recall that much), Khandaan (not much here too) and Ji Mantriji (the Indian take on Yes Minister). He also appeared in a number of films, the latest being Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na. Others were Trikaal and Rockford (saw them all).

As this too would make for a nice nostalgic ringtone. Here’s the ringtone version.